Another laugh escaped me. “Yes, I forgive you. And now you see why I trust the magic, too.”
“Yes.” Dorian nodded. “One favor? Please go with the decoy team? Don’t go with the real team?”
“Granted.”
“What the hell are you doing, brother?” Roran asked.
Rilen was moving his finger and thumb closer together and further away, watching the spark. “This is fascinating.” He glanced at each of us. “I think we have enough power to create the shield with nothing more than someone to mind it.”
Dorian wiggled his fingers this time. I found that motion adorable, but I’d already pushed the limits with him, so I didn’t say anything.
The magic danced over them. A devious little smile crept across his lips. “We do indeed.”
DRESSED FROM HEAD TO TOEIN BLACK, I crept over the rocks. I moved as silently as I could, avoiding the scree and loose rocks everywhere.
Roran was an excellent guide. He was sure-footed and skilled enough with his magic to give us just enough light in the dark to be sure on the rocks.
Someone’s sword rang against a rock.
I snapped around to look.
It was one of the newer temple dedicants, and he looked completely chagrined. I waited until he reached me, and then I snatched the scabbard belt and jerked it off.
“Wear it across your chest. If you hang it loose, it bangs on things.”
“Yes, mistress.” He scrambled to sling it across his chest and readjust all of his gear and equipment.
Shaking my head, I started up the hill again, working to regain my position near Roran. He smirked when I finally fell in next to him.
“Did you straighten him out,ilati?”
“Yes. Of course. One of the first things my father taught me was how to wear a sword properly for different situations.”
Chuckling, he offered a hand up the rock ledge we had to climb over. “I still get a kick out of the fact that someone as sweet and kind as you can beat the tar out of anyone in the temple except Dorian.”
“Frustrating, really,” I said. “I need to best him instead of calling a draw every time.”
Roran barked a laugh, and then slapped his hand over his mouth.
We continued over the sharp hills through the night with the moon above. The Scar had grass and rocks, and that was about it.
Our group was made up of Roran, Vitas, Carolee, two dozen dedicants-turned-soldiers and me. That was all. We were the decoy group distracting from the northern raid. While we had to be careful and quiet, it wasn’t as important as the real group.
The actual assault group in the north consisted of Staviz, Drez, Rilen and Ophelia and a few more of the extremely skilled dedicants and civil soldiers.
Though no one really thought Ophelia should be going anywhere so soon after the death of Argo, she wouldn’t be stopped.
I understood.
As the moon sank to the horizon, Roran found an overhang to provide a bit of shelter. “We’ll stop here for the rest of the night. Get some sleep. Our current plan is to sneak around East S’Kir, draw some attention away from what’s going on in the North, and sneak back out. Less than a day in the vampire territory.”
“Fire, Master Roran?” someone called.
“Yes, it’s safe here,” he nodded.
In just a few minutes, several small, smokeless campfires crackled, along with a few tents, including ours. Roran heated some soup and bread near the fire and settled me into the tent in my sleeping bag.
“You’re getting sleep too, aren’t you?” I asked.
